freedom of the seas

So as you can see from my previous blog the sail away party out of Barcelona was amazing. We headed back to our cabin after the party and our luggage had arrived. I would definitely recommend having anything you may need for the first few hours on-board the ship packed into your hand luggage as there can be a good few hours go by before you receive your luggage into your stateroom. Some people had prohibited item messages in there stateroom meaning they had items confiscated until the end of the cruise. The main thing to be aware of is that irons are strictly prohibited as they are a health and safety risk but hair straighteners are fine. We had an inside cabin up on deck 10 which was ideal for the three of us as and literally Windjammer (buffet style restaurant) is on the deck above so ideal for breakfast in the morning. We had a large double bed and my 6 year old daughter was in the bunk above us with a rail attached so she couldn’t fall out onto us. In the cabin there was also a curtain that could be pulled across, so if we were still awake when my daughter was in bed we could pull this across and watch T.V without disturbing her. It is always nice to have an ocean view or balcony cabin as a luxury but we do not find this necessary as we hardly spent any time in the cabin itself. We had an amazing stateroom attendant called Clever or Mr Clever to my 6yr old! He was south American and could not do enough to make our stay the best it could be. Clever provided us with such useful information about the ports of call and swapped stories about his own children and family life back home as well as looking after us incredibly. We all formed a strong attachment to him including my 6yr old whom he called Princess. We formed a lot of attachments to be honest on-board the ship. We found all of the staff so helpful and happy and easy to talk to and the cruise director was amazing and clearly very good at her job!

Freedom of the seas has everything a family could wish for from the ice skating rink to the rock climbing wall and the cinema there is just so much to do!! Especially during school holidays as they have even more events for the kids such as the DreamWorks parade that we were luckily enough to see. The parade was amazing so much going on in front of us, as well as above us as the characters danced through the promenade.

Stay tuned for my next blog as I talk about the facilities on board what has become my favourite family cruise ship Freedom of the Seas!!

Did you know here at Cruise Club UK we have a Loyalty Bonus Scheme. Book your chosen cabin type and you can receive up to 50 Bonus Points (1 Point = £1) That’s a saving of up to £50 off your next cruise booked with us.

The highly anticipated day had come to board the Freedom of the Seas in Barcelona and to say we were excited was an understatement. We had pre-booked a private transfer to come and get us from the hotel and take us to the ship. The driver arrived promptly and we had a 20 – 25 minute journey to the ship. As we arrived at the cruise terminal at approx. 12.30pm there were lots of people as there was a few other ships as well as ours in Barcelona that day. We queued for around 20 minutes and as we are gold members once the queue entered the cruise terminal we were able to join the gold fast track line which was slightly quicker. As we had checked in prior to arrival online and printed out our sea passes, the check in process was quick and easy and we headed through to the ship. We were greeted by the friendly staff with a glass of cava on arrival. When we walked through there was staff offering beverage package options which we were planning to take up anyway so we added them on straight away. This meant we didn’t have to queue at guest relations making the start to our cruise easy and stress free! Well done Royal! The cost of the ultimate beverage package was $441 for the 8 days which was well worthwhile as this includes most drinks such as spirits, cocktails, sodas and more. I like Cognac as my tipple and was able to have Courvoisier & Remy Martin as part of my package. I was also able to have house champagne and prosecco which are also favourites of mine! My Daughter had a soda package for the week which cost round $65 and there are self service soda machines around the ship so drinks can be had 24hours. We arrived at our cabin and our luggage hadn’t arrived yet but we decided to go in and explore.

We had an inside cabin up on deck 10 towards the front of the ship, the ocean view cabins are just the same but the mirror above the bed would be the window. The bed arrangements for my daughter was great as she had a bunk style bed above us with a rail on it so she couldn’t fall out which she loved with little ladders to it. There was also a curtain which could be closed if she was asleep to divide the room so we didn’t disturb her. After a quick look around the cabin we headed upstairs to the deck above to explore the pool deck and grab some food at the windjammer buffet style restaurant located at the aft of the pool deck.

The windjammer food was amazing, so much choice and everything labelled to avoid confusion. There is also a section of the windjammer called jade that has an Asian influence as well so there really is lots of variation to suit any requirement. Although this is all self service there are staff walking around taking bar drinks orders if required which I thought was a nice touch. We found the food to be of a very high standard and the staff were very helpful and friendly. On the way back to our cabin we stopped by at the adventure ocean kids club to register my daughter, the staff were very inviting and my daughter cerise wanted to play straight away but the club doesn’t operate on the 1st day due to the registration period. We headed back to the cabin to check if our luggage had been delivered and it had so we got changed into our swim suits and headed back up to deck 11 to the pool area to explore. As a 1st day tip for next time I would pack a small hand luggage bag with swim suits in and sun cream as sometimes it can take a good few hours to receive your luggage to your cabin. Stay tuned for my next blog as we sail away…..

Did you know here at Cruise Club UK we have a Loyalty Bonus Scheme. Book your chosen cabin type and you can receive up to 50 Bonus Points (1 Point = £1) That’s a saving of up to £50 off your next cruise booked with us.